Friday 14 November 2025Before the Wire, which starts 26 October 2026Updated 23:59
Polar night, day 19 of 111. The sun returns 15 February.
Svalbard Wire starts on 26 October 2026. Pages before that date show the history of the island.
This week in history, 15 November
1973
On 15 November 1973 Norway, Denmark, Canada and the United States signed the international agreement on the conservation of polar bears in Oslo, at the end of a three-day conference of the five Arctic states; the Soviet Union signed later. Under the agreement polar bear hunting on Svalbard became unlawful.
History Store norske leksikon
From the timeline, The coal town
1989
For a long time Longyearbyen was a company town, where the mining company ran most of the activity and the infrastructure. In 1989 the typical community services were split off into their own companies.
History Store norske leksikon
The timeline by era
Svalbard